Dramatic Austin qualifying as Marquez takes pole in final moments with record lap

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken his first pole position of 2015 in sensational fashion for tomorrow’s Red Bull GP of The Americas. His teammate, Hiroshi Aoyama – standing in for Dani Pedrosa – qualified in 18th for the twenty one lap race.

With rain threatening to arrive at anytime, the MotoGP riders were thankful to have a dry day at the Austin track after yesterday’s difficult conditions. Marc led this morning’s FP3 and FP4 and confirmed his place in Q2. Hiroshi improved throughout the day but was unable to reach Q2 and sealed his 6th row start from 18th place with his time of 2’05.086.

As the 15-minute Q2 session got underway, Marc took provisional pole on his first exit. After returning to the pits for a fresh rear tyre, Marc exited back on track but encountered a warning light on his dashboard, so as a safety measure he switched the bike off, HRC engineers are looking into this issue. Thankfully this happened on the pit straight and Marc was able to sprint back to his garage to jump on his second bike. The fast reactions of his team meant the bike was already running as he approached the garage and with 2’27 remaining Marc made it back out on track – demoted to 7th as other riders posted faster laps.

He passed the start / finish line with seconds to spare and immediately pushed his Honda RC213V to the limit. Marc lit up the timing screens in all sectors and took a stunning pole position with his time of 2’02.135 smashing his own record from 2014 by over half a second (2’02.773) and 0.339 faster than second place Dovizioso.

Marc Marquez

1st2'02.135

“I'm happy, because after having a problem we were able to come back and set the fastest time. It was rather different to what we are used to, because when I crossed the line for the first time with the second tyre I saw a warning light on the bike. When that happens, we are normally advised to shut off the engine. I was able to get out again on the second bike and cross the line right at the cut-off point to put in a final lap, which worked out well for us. It's important, because tomorrow we are expecting an eventful race with the unstable weather conditions. If the race is dry, then I'm ready. If it's wet, then we will have to see how things go in the moment!”

Hiroshi Aoyama

18th2'05.086

“Today we were fortunate to have dry conditions all day and in each session I have improved but it wasn’t easy. During qualifying I had an issue with chatter but still bettered my time, however, it wasn’t enough to get a good grid position. I still have room to improve in time for tomorrow’s race so I hope it’s dry. I’ll try to find a few tenths in different places to allow me to move up in the standings.”

MotoGP 2015Saturday, April 11th 2015

Qualifying
Round 2
Red Bull Grand Prix of The AmericasAmericas

Results Session

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

2'02.135

2

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

2'02.474

3

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

2'02.540

4

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

2'02.573

5

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

CWM LCR Honda

Honda

2'02.613

6

Redding Scott

45

GBR

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

2'02.674

7

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

2'02.792

8

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

2'02.869

9

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

2'03.161

10

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

2'03.440

11

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Pramac Racing

Ducati

2'03.741

12

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

2'03.754

13

Barbera Hector

8

SPA

Avintia Racing

Ducati

2'03.926

14

Bradl Stefan

6

GER

Athina Forward Racing

Forward Yamaha

2'04.275

15

Hernandez Yonny

68

COL

Pramac Racing

Ducati

2'04.313

16

Di Meglio Mike

63

FRA

Avintia Racing

Ducati

2'04.392

17

Laverty Eugene

50

IRE

Aspar Team

Honda

2'04.875

18

Aoyama Hiroshi

7

JPN

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

2'05.086

19

Miller Jack

43

AUS

LCR Honda

Honda

2'05.156

20

Baz Loris

76

FRA

Athina Forward Racing

Forward Yamaha

2'05.214

21

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

AB Motoracing

Honda

2'05.261

23

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

2'05.595

24

De Angelis Alex

15

RSM

E-Motion IodaRacing Team

ART

2'06.145

25

Melandri Marco

33

ITA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

2'07.267

Gallery

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Location Information

The Circuit Of The Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time… read more.

Location Information

The Circuit Of The Americas is the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the U.S. near Austin, Texas, with a 5.513km track and a capacity for 120,000 fans. Construction of the impressive 1000-acre facility was completed late in 2012, with MotoGP lining up at the track for the first time… read more.